Bertrand, Brannigan & Findlay Earn All-American Honors

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — As the Notre Dame baseball team travels west to Omaha for the College World Series, the accolades continue to pour in for the Irish. Left-handed pitcher John Michael Bertrand, infielder/right-handed pitcher Jack Brannigan and left-handed pitcher Jack Findlay all earned All-American honors on Wednesday.

Bertrand was named a second team All-American by the NCBWA, Brannigan was named to the third team by Perfect Game and Findlay was a second team freshman All-American from Perfect Game. It was Bertrand’s third postseason All-American honor this year (Collegiate Baseball & CoSIDA), Findlay’s second of the season (Collegiate Baseball) and Brannigan earned his first of the season. Bertrand was also named the NCBWA District Five Player of the Year and ABCA All-Region First Team this past week.

Bertrand has been the Irish ace this season as he leads the team in wins (9), innings pitched (103.2), strikeouts (107) and ERA (2.69) among qualified starters. He set a career-best mark for wins and has surpassed his previous career-high in strikeouts this season. He is the first Irish pitcher to have over 100 strikeouts in a single season since David Phelps in 2007. His 107 strikeouts currently rank fifth all-time for most in a single season. His 103.2 innings pitched are the most by an Irish pitcher since 2011 when Brian Dupra threw 104.2.

After being the first Irish pitcher to earn first team All-ACC honors in 2021, Bertrand was named to the first team once again following the 2022 regular season. He is the first Irish pitcher to earn back-to-back first team all-conference honors since Aaron Heilman won it three-straight seasons from 1999-02 back in the BIG EAST. Bertrand finished third in the ACC in ERA among qualified pitchers, fifth in innings pitched while the top-four had one more start than him, sixth in wins and opponent batting average and tied for seventh in strikeouts. He pitched 6.0 innings or more in 11 of his 14 starts and allowed three or fewer earned runs in 12 of his 14 starts during the regular season.

During the regular season, he set a career high with 12 strikeouts in the 2-0 road win in extras over #5 Florida State. It was the first time in program history that the Seminoles were shutout in an extra inning game. In the ACC Championship, Bertrand tossed 8.0 innings of scoreless work to defeat Florida State and advance the Irish to the semifinals for the first time in program history.

In the Statesboro Regional, Bertrand tossed a combined 8.2 innings over two starts and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Regional. After pitching the first inning against #24 Texas Tech, he came back out to start the Regional Final against the Red Raiders on Sunday. He allowed just one run over 7.2 innings to earn his ninth victory of the season and send the Irish back to the Super Regionals.

Brannigan has been the Swiss army knife again for the Irish, excelling on the field at third base and converting in high-leverage situations out of the bullpen. He has started in 53 games this year at third base and made 11 appearances out of the bullpen and one start on the season. Brannigan is tied for the team lead in RBI with 46 and second on the team in home runs with 12. On the mound, he has earned two wins and two saves and has struck out 28 batters in 14.2 innings of work.

He has had a number of clutch hits for the Irish, most recently in the 7-3 Super Regional clinching win over No. 1 Tennessee. His solo home run in the seventh inning gave the Irish their first lead of the game, which they never relinquished as they clinched their third berth to the College World Series in program history. It was Brannigan’s second home run of the Super Regional and his third of the postseason, which is tied for the team lead. Brannigan hit the go-ahead home run in the eventual 6-4 win over hosts Georgia Southern in the Statesboro Regional last weekend.

Findlay has had a stellar freshman campaign that has only gotten better as the season has gone on. He is tied for the team lead in saves (3), second on the team in wins (6), third in innings pitched (45.1) and tied for fourth on the squad in strikeouts (51). He leads all the freshmen in each of those four categories.

He has been Notre Dame’s main weapon out of the bullpen this postseason and played a huge part in the Irish getting back to Omaha. He has pitched in four of the six games this postseason and earned three saves and one win while closing out both the Regional and Super Regional for the Irish. In his 10.1 innings of postseason work, he has allowed just three hits, one run and struck out 12 batters. He earned saves in three-straight games between the Statesboro Regional and Knoxville Super Regional. In game three against No. 1 Tennessee, Findlay set a career high with 5.0 innings pitched to earn the win and send the Irish back to Omaha for the third time in program history.

—ND—